[Keim and kinship: reflections on a cultural concept of German-Brazilian settlers]. / Keim e parentesco: reflexos sobre uma categoria cultural de colonos teuto-brasileiros.

"In this study the author analyses the cultural [concept] Keim, which can be translated as 'germinative principle'. The [concept] classifies people, through families, defining them as marriageable or non-marriageable, according to [their] being carriers of a good or a bad Keim. In the conceptions of the study group--peasants of German origin in Rio Grande do Sul [Brazil]--Keim corresponds to the 'sap' of the genealogical tree through which the families are organized in stem households. The category is fundamental for the understanding of marriage exchanges, that is, the possibilities of alliances as well as the endogamy of the group. By the opposing principles, strong and weak Keim, the peasants explain their present decadence as well as the general decline in the number of children." (SUMMARY IN ENG)